(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a door gripper for a vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to a door gripper for a vehicle which is configured to correspond to an angle difference of restricted cross sections and height and width differences of restricted cross sections of a door of a vehicle to be applied to a various types of doors.
(b) Description of the Related Art
During vehicle assembly, grippers, such as a door gripper 105 as shown in FIG. 1, are mounted at the end of an arm 103 of a robot 101, which is also called a robot gripper. Such grippers are used to carry vehicle body parts from one process to the next or hold vehicle body parts in position for welding by a welder in the vehicle body assembly line. For example, as shown in the FIG. 1, a gripper 105 can be used with a welding device 107 and vehicle body parts such as a door panel 109.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a common door gripper and FIG. 3 is a view illustrating the use of common door gripper. As shown, a conventional door gripper includes a frame 111 mounted to the end of an arm 103 of the robot 101, and includes two sets of clamping units CU1 and CU2.
However, with such conventional the door grippers 105, complications are presented when the angle and/or height of restricted cross sections of various vehicle parts differ, the shape of the restricted cross section for each vehicle is complex, and when interference with the existing equipment must be prevented. In order to address those complications, it is required to manufacture a new gripper in its entirety for each new type of vehicle.
Consequently, when exclusive grippers must be provided for each new type of vehicle, the investment costs increase because the existing gripper must either be modified or an entirely new gripper must be manufactured. In addition to the added costs, the structure of the gripper generally becomes gradually more complicated.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.